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In: KulturPoetik 2015, Heft 2

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Abstract

Although the 1960s are known as a decade in which youth cultures flourished, contem-porary songwriters did not evade subjects such as old age and death. As various songs of the period demonstrate, the problem of the transience of life was addressed in a number of ways. On the one hand, the Cuban Crisis of 1962 caused a growing sensitivity towards the deadly impact of nuclear weapons; on the other, romantic visions of an innocent youth, unspoiled by the ill effects of technocratic society, soon gave way to various kinds of disillusionment, which caused some writers to rethink on early countercultural claims. The essay looks at the relationship between anticipation of the personal experience of growing old and the collective fear of annihilation.